General Motors Company is the largest American car company. It is based in the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan. It was founded in 1908 by a man named Billy Durant. It makes cars and trucks in 31 countries. About 209,000 people work for it. It is the second largest car company in the world.

In the 1950s and 60s it dominated the car industry, but it fell into decline by the 1980s and 90s. The company went through a bankruptcy in 2009 and was bought by the US Government, which has been selling its stake in the company.

As of April 2014, GM is being investigated by the United States Congress over the deaths of 13 people involving faulty ignition systems that have been used in many GM cars, with some built as early as 1997.[2][3] In May 2014 the company was fined $35 million from NHTSA over the ignition problem.[4]

In the past, General Motors has used other brands, including Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, Geo, and Daewoo, but none of these are produced by GM as of 2014. They either have gone out of business or were merged into Chevrolet. GM also owned Saab from 1989-2010, and also held stakes in Isuzu and Suzuki until 2008.